COMPASSION AND COSTS

A Bill to Legalize Needle Exchange Programs Would Spare Thousands of Texans
the Horrors of HIV and Hepatitis and Save Public Health Dollars

A hearing is scheduled today in Austin on Senate Bill 127, authored by Sen.
Jon Lindsay, R-Houston. It would allow intravenous drug users to
anonymously exchange their dirty -- and frequently infected --
paraphernalia for sterile needles and syringes provided by public health
agencies.

Texas desperately needs needle exchange programs to snap the chain of
contagion that runs from IV drug users to their sexual partners, spouses
and unborn children. Numerous studies across the country have shown
significant decreases in both HIV and hepatitis C infections in cities that
have needle exchange programs.

If compassion isn't persuasive enough, lawmakers should consider the
massive costs to taxpayer-funded health programs such as Medicaid and the
Harris County Hospital District. They must care for patients whose
infection could have been prevented by a simple and cheap sanitation
measure. According to statistics compiled by the Communicable Disease
Prevention Project of the Texas ACLU, the average yearly cost for a local
syringe exchange program is $169,000, while the lifetime cost of treating
one person infected with HIV is $119,000 -- $100,000 for a victim of
Hepatitis C. If such programs had prevented just 5 percent of the 113,000
HIV and hepatitis C cases reported in Texas between 2000-2003, a half
billion dollars in health costs would have been saved.

In addition to the syringe exchange provision, Lindsay's bill would allow
program operators to charge users a fee for each hypodermic needle of up to
150 percent of its actual cost. The legislation would also mandate that
program participants receive education on the transmission and prevention
of communicable diseases, as well as assistance in obtaining substance
abuse treatment. Health agencies would be required to compile information
on the programs' effectiveness in reducing the spread of disease.

Needle exchange is opposed by groups that contend that legalizing drug
paraphernalia is a step toward the eventual legalizing of the use of the
narcotics. In fact, the opposite is true. Syringes don't cause addiction,
drugs do. When addicts contact health providers to exchange dirty needles
for clean, they not only eliminate a public health threat but also take the
first step toward receiving counseling and treatment to kick the drug habit.

It's unfortunate that an issue that should be soberly weighed on its health
merits has become entangled in an heated ideological debate. The Bush
administration has pressured the United Nations to drop support for needle
exchange programs overseas.

Sen. Lindsay, a conservative Republican, said when he proposed a Texas
needle exchange bill two years ago, "It's a cheap, preventative health care
measure for very serious diseases." Nothing more and nothing less.

Lindsay is to be commended for both his common sense and courage. He
sponsored the needle exchange bill after doctors from Houston visited him
to explain there was a serious problem in his community that needed to be
treated. The lawmaker has tackled a difficult, controversial issue that
many in his party would have avoided. In doing so, he provides an example
of true public leadership.